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How the Hell Do Nielsen Ratings Actually Work?

How the Hell Do Nielsen Ratings Actually Work?

The Town with Matthew Belloni

March 7, 202530m 50s

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Show Notes

Matt is joined by Nielsen’s Brian Fuhrer to explain the mysterious world of ratings and how they actually work in 2025. They get into how Nielsen literally tracks viewing habits, how that has changed over the years, and how they now track out-of-home viewing. Then, they look at a surprising metric about the Oscars ratings, discuss how streaming is improving ratings among younger demos, and which shows are the most influential in terms of attracting a younger audience (03:00). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for the new Bong Joon-ho film, ‘Mickey 17’ (25:53).


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Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Brian Fuhrer


Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jessie Lopez

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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